South Africa Approves Gay Marriages

In another display of how other nations are more progressive than Americans, the South AfricanParliament on Tuesday approved new legislation recognizing gay marriages.

The Associated Press reports that, the National Assembly passed the Civil Union Bill, worked out after months of heated public discussion, by a majority of 230 to 41 votes despite criticism from both traditionalists and gay activists and warnings that it might be unconsitutional. There were three abstentions.

The bill provides for the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union." It does not specify whether they are heterosexual or homosexual partnerships.

But it also says marriage officers need not perform a ceremony between same-sex couples if doing so would conflict with his or her "conscience, religion and belief."

"When we attained our democracy, we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust painful past, by declaring that never again shall it be that any South African will be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed culture and sex," Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told the National Assembly.

The bill had been expected to pass given the overwhelming majority of the ruling African National Congress, despite unease among rank and file lawmakers. It now has to go to the National Council of Provinces, which is expected to be a formality, before being signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki.

Fellow blogger Rod 2.0 has an interesting report on "Now that It’s Legal, Who’s Getting Married in South Africa."

Jasmyne A. Cannick

Jasmyne Cannick is a nationally known writer and commentator on political, race and social issues. She was selected as one of ESSENCE Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World, one of the Most Influential African-Americans in Los Angeles Under 40, one of Los Angeles’ Most Fascinating Angelenos by the L.A. Weekly and one of 40 People Under 40 by the Advocate. She’s worked in the U.S. House of Representatives and at all levels of government helping to shape public opinion and encourage civic engagement while advocating for underrepresented and marginalized communities in the political arena. Learn more here.

What do you think?

Lfarmer

I ahve a gay firend living in South Africa and I am happy that he and his partner can now tie the knot. he is from the Xhosa tribe and we correspond with each other on a weekly basis. He and his peers look up to Black American gays, because they feel we have so many more rights. It ironic thaat they now have the one right a sizable amount of gays of color in this country want: legal recognization of gay relationships and all the rights afforded to heterosexual couples.